After during a discussion held this week in the Aliyah and Absorption Committee in the Knesset it was reported that 7 Jews from the Bnei Menashe community were killed in India while waiting to immigrate to Israel, the community's umbrella organization publishes a denial of the tragic incident.
In a statement distributed to the media on behalf of the Bnei Menashe Council, the umbrella organization of the Bnei Menashe community of the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, it was stated: "The reports currently circulating in the media about seven members of the community who were killed on Monday, January 1, by a rocket attack on a synagogue in Manipur are completely false and have no basis in reality.
"The story, which was part of the press release published by the Knesset's Aliyah and Absorption Committee, originated from false information given to the committee by Zvi Chava, the coordinator of the Shavei Israel association that worked on the affairs of Bnei Menashe. The apparent motive of the lie was to influence the committee and the Israeli government to speed up the immigration to Israel of about 5,000 Bnei Menashe estimated to still be in India."
As stated in the Knesset committee's discussion, one of the participants, Zvi Hauta, who introduced himself as the coordinator of the Bnei Menashe in Shavei Yisrael, said: "Last night, the Bnei Menashe community buried 7 people who were killed as a result of a bomb falling near the synagogue. I am begging to let this community make Aliyah. Every day they stay in India and don't immigrate to Israel, they risk their lives. I don't worry about employment, everyone will get along, I worry about the members of the community who stayed alive and just want to make Aliyah."
As mentioned, now the umbrella organization of the Bnei Menashe community in India claims that this is an event that did not happen.
